Trivia: station codes with letters not in the station name

[SteelWeelApeal]

What stations have letters in the three letter station code that aren’t in the station’s name? For example, Kgx has an x, but the corresponding station name King’s Cross doesn’t. Same with the Z in Zfd (Farringdon).

 

[Wolvercoter]

Hanborough is HND. Think it was incorrectly named Handborough for a time.

 

[Ianno87]

WCX for Wembley Stadium (used to be Wembley Complex)

MIA for Manchester (International) Airport, letters out of order for Manchester Airport

BSV for Buckshaw Parkway (originally to be Buckshaw Village)

 

[oglord]

Does NWE for Newport (Essex) count? The E stands for Essex, not the E in 'Newport', which would be before the W.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Bicester Village BIT (used to be Bicester Town)

 

[Wolvercoter]

Bicester Village BIT (used to be Bicester Town)

It still works as all the letters are in 'Bicester'.

 

[mmh]

Bicester Village BIT (used to be Bicester Town)

All of those letters appear in Bicester, and in order.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

Canada Water is "ZCW" and even stranger is Whitechapel, which is "ZLW".

 

[30907]

Canada Water is "ZCW" and even stranger is Whitechapel, which is "ZLW".

Zs are all tube stations IIRC.
And (to the OP) X for Cross is a normal abbreviation.

 

[Wolvercoter]

Dinas Rhondda (DMG)
Howwood, Ren (HOZ)
Baglan (BAJ)
Melton (MES)

 

[pdeaves]

Dinas Rhondda (DMG)
Howwood, Ren (HOZ)
Baglan (BAJ)
Melton (MES)

For interest;
DMG used to be Dinas Mid Glamorgan, I think.
In MES the S is for Suffolk.

 

[London Trains]

St Helier (SIH) - there's no I between the S and H, it is after the H.

Does NWE for Newport (Essex) count? The E stands for Essex, not the E in 'Newport', which would be before the W.

Similarly in Queenstown Road, the code is QRB, where the B stands for Battersea.

 

[mmh]

St Helier (SIH) - there's no I between the S and H, it is after the H.


Similarly in Queenstown Road, the code is QRB, where the B stands for Battersea.

There are two Is in Saint Helier, and Queenstown Road's full name includes the Battersea.

 

[kieron]

Hanborough is HND. Think it was incorrectly named Handborough for a time.

139 years, according to Wikipedia. It changed in 1992.

There are some other stations where not all of the letters in the CRS code appear in the station name (as shown on trackside signs).

Some other stations use "X" to represent the word "Cross":

• Hunts Cross (HNX)
• Kirby Cross (KBX)
• London Charing Cross (CHX)
• New Cross (NWX)
• New Cross Gate (NXG)

Some have a letter which would be part of the name on the sign if it was written in a different way:

• Heathrow Terminal 4 (HAF) (F for Four)
• Heathrow Terminal 5 (HWV) (V as a Roman numeral)
• St Johns (SAJ) (A from "Saint")

Some have a letter, or letters which matches the area (county, etc.), but where the signs don't include it:

• Adlington (Cheshire) (ADC)
• Ashford International (AFK) (in Kent)
• Bentley (South Yorkshire) (BYK)
• Bootle (Cumbria) (BOC)
• Clapham (Yorks) (CPY)
• Creswell (CWD) (in Derbyshire)
• Ebbsfleet International (EBD) (in Dartford BC)
• Garth (Bridgend) (GMG) (in Glamorgan)

Some have a letter (or letters) which reflects a town or suburb the signs don't mention:

• Birkenhead Hamilton Square (BKQ)
• Exhibition Centre (Glasgow) (EXG)
• James Street Liverpool (LVJ)
• London Road (Brighton) (LRB)
• Maesteg (Ewenny Road) (MEW)
• Meadowhall (MHS) (in Sheffield)

Some reflect a name the station used to have, or at least a name which was considered for the station:

• Bedford (BDM) (Midland Road)
• Eltham (ELW) (Well Hall)
• Harwich International (HPQ) (Parkeston Quay)
• Heysham Port (HHB) (Harbour)
• James Cook (JCH) (Hospital)
• Kirkby Stephen (KSW) (West)
• Mansfield (MFT) (Town)
• Queens Park (London) (QPW) (was West Kilburn)

I don't know if there's any significance to the last bit of the following:

• Anerley (ANZ)
• Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 (HXX)
• Maghull North (MNS)
• Stow (SOI)
• Streethouse (SHC)
• Wapping (WPE)

 

[pdeaves]

Birkenhead Hamilton Square (BKQ)

Is that not the station name? In which case, B, K and Q all appear.

Maghull North (MNS)

For reasons I don't understand, this is referred to as 'Maghull North Station' (though not on the station signs).

Maesteg (Ewenny Road) (MEW)

There are two stations in Maesteg, one just the town and one 'Maesteg (Ewenny Road)'. At the last time I saw it, some signs had the full name and some just the road name. So that one both does and doesn't comply!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

AFS for Ashford (Surrey)
BHC for Balloch (replaced Balloch Central across the road)

 

[Buggleskelly]

Harwich International - HPQ

 

[_toommm_]

MHS for Meadowhall. I believe the S is for station, in order to distinguish it from the nearby tram stop, which has the code MEI (Meadowhall Interchange)

 

[SteveM70]

Harwich International - HPQ

Harwich Parkeston Quay in the old days

 

[Buggleskelly]

Harwich Parkeston Quay in the old days

That explains that then. Thanks, had no idea.

 

[kieron]

Is that not the station name?

Sorry, I should have said that "Birkenhead" doesn't appear on any of the signs for the station. You should be able to make out one of the platform-side signs in the top picture in the Wikipedia page.

There are two stations in Maesteg, one just the town and one 'Maesteg (Ewenny Road)'. At the last time I saw it, some signs had the full name and some just the road name. So that one both does and doesn't comply!

Thanks. I haven't been to Maesteg, so I was going by a couple of pictures on the Internet.

(Liverpool) Lime Street is another station where some signs have one name and some have another, but I think that's just because the station is managed by two different organisations with different views on the issue.

 

[calopez]

I don't know if there's any significance to the last bit of the following:

• Anerley (ANZ)
• Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 (HXX)
• Maghull North (MNS)
• Stow (SOI)
• Streethouse (SHC)
• Wapping (WPE)

Anerley used to be ANY. But when the new National Reservation System took over from BR's CRS in 2004, it used 'ANY' as a ticket type code, so Anerley had to have a different code.
In CRS, the first letter of the code had to be the same as the first letter of the station's name - I presume that's still the case - and it could sometimes be quite difficult to think up new codes that follow that rule whilst also being unique and bearing a passing resemblance to the full name. Which probably explains the rest of the above.

I was never involved in creating domestic CRS codes, but, on occasion, I did set up some for the PIRATES international reservation system. We had a bit of a freer hand as the PIRATES 3-alpha codes were just synonyms for the 7-digit station codes used by all UIC administrations, although they couldn't duplicate domestic codes. I like to think that a bit of levity was applied in their creation. Anyone (is there anyone now??) who remembers the 3-alpha code for Bochum will know what I mean - and I have to admit to being quite pleased with myself for creating the code MCK for a certain station in France...

 

[pdeaves]

Anyone (is there anyone now??) who remembers the 3-alpha code for Bochum will know what I mean - and I have to admit to being quite pleased with myself for creating the code MCK for a certain station in France...

'BUM' and 'Marne-La-Vallee' for those who don't already know.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Maesteg (Ewenny Road) (MEW)

That ought to have been the code for Catford... a missed opportunity!

 

[reb0118]

Stow's [SOI] full name is Stow in Wedale so the 'I' may come from the 'i' in in.

 

[pdeaves]

Stow's [SOI] full name is Stow in Wedale so the 'I' may come from the 'i' in in.

Thanks for that, I wondered why the 'I'.

 

[GeordieO]

For the Tyne and Wear Metro:

MSP - St. Peters (M) - M refers to Monkwearmouth which was the original station.
SFC - Stadium of Light (FC) - FC obviously refers to Football Club, and the S being Sunderland.

 

[kieron]

Anerley used to be ANY. But when the new National Reservation System took over from BR's CRS in 2004, it used 'ANY' as a ticket type code, so Anerley had to have a different code.

I've just checked, and the ORR's station usage estimate for 2014-15 (published on 15/12/2015) uses ANY. It's ANZ in more recent editions, so maybe it took them a bit longer to update their own system.

In CRS, the first letter of the code had to be the same as the first letter of the station's name - I presume that's still the case - and it could sometimes be quite difficult to think up new codes that follow that rule whilst also being unique and bearing a passing resemblance to the full name. Which probably explains the rest of the above.

How did they accommodate stations where the first letter doesn't match the one used on (for example) nre.co.uk? The London Underground stations don't follow this, of course, and most of the London Terminals don't (as "London" is part of the name they give). Mottisfont & Dunbridge (DBG) used to meet it, but doesn't now.

Stow's [SOI] full name is Stow in Wedale so the 'I' may come from the 'i' in in.

It's usually given as Stow of Wedale, from what I can tell. I have found the version you give on a history article on the local Church of Scotland parish web site, though, so it could work.

 

[alistairlees]

My own contribution was to get Bishopstone (Hill Rise) (a rail replacement bus stop) reallocated from BIR to BST, so we could use BIR for "Birmingham Stations" (so it could be used on eTickets). And to get Heathrow Rail to be LHR for eTickets too. Three-letter codes for group stations are in a different data source from the timetable feed, before anyone asks.

 

[calopez]

I've just checked, and the ORR's station usage estimate for 2014-15 (published on 15/12/2015) uses ANY. It's ANZ in more recent editions, so maybe it took them a bit longer to update their own system.

How did they accommodate stations where the first letter doesn't match the one used on (for example) nre.co.uk? The London Underground stations don't follow this, of course, and most of the London Terminals don't (as "London" is part of the name they give). Mottisfont & Dunbridge (DBG) used to meet it, but doesn't now.

My presumption that the first letter of the code still has to be the same as the first letter of the station's name is probably incorrect, then! CRS, of course, goes back nearly 40 years, and other systems have come along since which have their own rules. Originally, I believe, only stations served by reservable trains had 3-alpha codes; the rest got theirs when the Disabled Persons' Reporting System (DPRS) was introduced in the late 1980s. Needless to say, neither CRS nor DPRS was concerned with Underground stations!